Coaching against cancer

It’s not odd for basketball coaches to wear suits or sneakers, but sporting both inside the state Capitol on Wednesday — along with legislators, lobbyists and Missourians — made a statement for cancer awareness and research funding.

John Moseley, Lincoln University men’s basketball coach; Bob Burchard, Columbia College men’s basketball coach and athletic director; and Kim Anderson, University of Missouri men’s basketball coach, kicked off the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network lobbying day. It coincided with the General Assembly’s annual Suits and Sneakers event, originated by Coaches vs. Cancer.

Each coach gave pep talks to more than 100 cancer survivors before they headed into lawmakers’ offices, advocating for the funding of tobacco cessation programs and breast and cervical cancer screenings.

Last year, Moseley said he spoke at the same event as his mother battled melanoma. In the time since, she died from the disease, and his father started his own battle with the skin condition in October. Though his dad, who Moseley calls his No.1 fan, was undergoing surgeries to remove melanoma spots, he made time for a flight to attend four weekend games.

Moseley said he’s currently reading and soaking up the theme of “Every Day I Fight,” a book by Stuart Scott, the ESPN broadcaster who died in 2015 after a public battle with cancer.

“(Scott) talks about how when you’re in the battle, cancer doesn’t define who you are,” Moseley said. “What it does, it makes you appreciate the little things in life that many times, before you’re faced with it or someone you are about is faced with it, you take for granted. When you’re in the midst of the fight — whether it’s you or a family member or a loved one or friend — the sunrises appear to be much different. When the sun sets, you have a much greater appreciation for it.”

Anderson, whose father also had cancer, focused his speech on Rhyan Loos, the 6-year-old daughter of assistant coach Brad Loos. She was diagnosed with neuroblastoma at 5. The University of Missouri Athletics Department, men’s basketball team and fans organized support for the young girl.

“That hit me really hard,” he said. “It’s been so unbelievable to watch the support from everybody to help his family.”

Rhyan Loos has undergone treatments, tests and scans since her diagnosis. She started her Wednesday with a sixth round of chemotherapy treatment, Anderson said.

He requested those gathered for the lobbying day to ask legislators to support pediatric cancer research, adding it’s an area of cancer that’s underfunded.

In the U.S., cancer is the most common death by disease for children, according to the American Childhood Cancer Association. There are an estimated 15,780 children between birth and 19 diagnosed with cancer annually.

Four percent of U.S. federal funding goes to childhood cancer research, according to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, an organization that funds the research.

“I make that plea,”Anderson said. “I’m obviously making the plea for every form of cancer because it’s touched every one of us. … But, pediatric cancer is an area of cancer that has been underfunded.”